Evanston Township 2013 Property Tax Assessment Appeal Deadline

March 25, 2013 is the deadline for owners of real property in Evanston Township to file an appeal of the proposed assessment for 2013. Those proposed assessments -- the valuations that form the basis for the taxes that local governments eventually levy on the real estate, which will be reflected in the taxbills payable in 2014 -- were mailed several weeks ago. An appeal to the Cook County Assessor is the first of three opportunities property-owners have to appeal their assessments administratively (the Board of Review and the state's Property Tax Appeal Board are the second and third bites at the apple). The appeal  must be filed by the 25th, but property-owners have until April 4 to file supporting documentation. You can file the paper form (click here to download) at the downtown or suburban Assessor locations, or file an appeal online.

In theory, following recent property tax process reform, the proposed valuation represents 10% of your property's fair market value. In the opinion of some, the conversion of market value to an "equalized assessed value," or EAV, is a step that makes the process unnecessarily mysterious and opaque, with the conversion to a smaller number making many think they're getting some kind of bargain, when in fact both the EAV and the "market value" themselves function effectively not as absolutes, but only as shares or fractions of the eventual levy. Folks sometimes wonder why their property values and even assessed market values drop, but their taxes don't (or even go up). The answer is that if the levy goes up, taxes go up, regardless of what direction overall EAV is headed -- your taxes contribute to the levy in the same proportion as your assessments bear to the various taxing bodies' total assessment of property in their jurisdiction.

To that extent, assessment appeals and gaming pit owners against each other. Comparisons can be difficult, especially where properties are different sized and different ages (condominiums, townhouses, or subdivisions where there is greater uniformity of housing stock theoretically have far greater similarity in how they're treated). However, Cook County has made strides toward making assessments more greatly resemble market value, and in considering factors such as recent sales, and the ratio of those sales to lot and building size.

No one is required to use professionals to appeal, although most Evanston homeowners have probably received a number of solicitations from attorneys and services who specialize in this work. You can file by yourself. However, the pros can help you through the process and many will do so on a contingent-fee basis. Numerous governmental representatives also make staff time and/or brochures available to help taxpayers.

If you think your property is fairly assessed, you may not find the benefit of an appeal is worth the time of investigating other properties' assessment and assembling evidence. However, if you feel you are being assessed at a higher rate than other properties -- the data was published in print several weeks ago in the Evanston Review locally, and is available online through the Assessor's search tool -- it is advantageous not to skip the assessor appeal step, even if you plan to later appeal to the Board of Review.

-- Jeff Smith